


They Took Some Honey, And Plenty of Money

by Netgirl_y2k



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Female Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-08
Updated: 2012-05-08
Packaged: 2017-11-04 13:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/394511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Netgirl_y2k/pseuds/Netgirl_y2k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A knight, a pirate, and stray wolf cub, lost at sea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Took Some Honey, And Plenty of Money

**Author's Note:**

  * For [likeadeuce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeadeuce/gifts).



The smooth cheeked sailor called Qarl, the one who wore the moniker 'the maid' with more ease than Brienne ever had, was teaching Arya to tie knots.

Brienne loosened her dagger in its sheath and wished she hadn't left Oathkeeper in their cabin. 

"You needn't fear, knight," said Asha, "Qarl's tastes don't run towards little girls."

Brienne had misliked the idea of taking passage on an Ironborn ship from the beginning - Tarth was an island, after all, and the krakens had risen more than once in Brienne's lifetime - but the Black Wind was the only ship heading North to be had for any price, and Brienne had been somewhat reassured to find that it was captained by a woman. Now she was less sure. Asha Greyjoy called her 'knight' in the same mocking tone as Jaime had called her 'wench' and was forever smirking at some joke she didn't seem inclined to share with anyone else, least of all Brienne.

*

Stumbling across Arya Stark at Saltpans attempting to board a ship bound for Braavos had been a happy accident.

Seven grant me another accident like that, Brienne had prayed. 

But it had presented her with another problem. Lady Catelyn, her sons and sister were dead, Riverrun was besieged, and however much Brienne trusted Jaime she could not allow Lady Catelyn's daughter to fall into the clutches of the lions again. 

The North was in chaos, a fake Arya had wed Lord Bolton's heir, and Moat Cailin was impassible over land anyway.

They had boarded Black Wind with Arya dressed in clothes Podrick had left behind, disguised as a squire named Bran. 

As soon as she'd seen her Asha had laughed and said, "If she's got a cock then so do I! Which wolf cub is she, Sansa or Arya?"

*

"You should take that armour off, knight," Asha called, crossing the deck to Brienne. "Should we sink I would be ashamed to have you beat me to the Drowned God's watery halls."

Not for the first time Brienne found herself looking at the axes Asha carried and wondering what the best way to counter them would be, should it come to that. 

"Are you planning to have us sink, captain?"

"Few sailors plan to sink, but these storms are only going to get worse the further North we go. You hired Black Wind to take you North, how far North I wonder?"

"The Wall."

"The--" Asha laughed again. "They don't take women in the Nights Watch, knight, not even ones such as you."

Brienne frowned and grudgingly admitted, "Lady Arya has a brother on the Wall, her last brother, I am returning her to him."

And hoping he will be able to advise me what to do next, who I can trust with the girl, Brienne didn't say.

"We won't make it to the Wall with these storms. You and the girl can disembark at Deepwood Motte with the rest of us."

Brienne grabbed Asha's arm as she turned away, she was aware that the eyes of every man on deck were upon them. "I am paying you to take us North!"

"No, right now you are paying me not to throw you overboard in your sleep and ransom the child to the highest bidder."

*

Brienne and Arya shared a cabin. Arya slept lightly and always within easy reach of Needle. That you could never sleep soundly around strangers had been a hard lesson for Brienne to learn, and Arya should have been too young to have had to learn it. 

Before they had boarded the Black Wind Brienne had gone to the Sept and prayed to the Mother, the Warrior, and the shade of Lady Catelyn for the strength to protect Arya, and the wisdom to find Sansa. 

Brienne watched Arya twitch and flinch in her sleep and made sure Oathkeeper was keeping a keen edge.

*

"You have nothing to worry about, you know," said Asha, joining Brienne in looking out over the slate grey water, which was still for once. "I have no love for the Lannisters, I wouldn't spit on my Uncle Euron if he was on fire, and I doubt the Northmen would believe me even if I told them I had the girl."

"And drowning me in my sleep?"

"I'm still thinking that one over, knight." Asha smirked, and Brienne wished that she were a better judge of when people were joking.

Asha slid closer to Brienne and said softly and dangerously, "Don't ever question me in front of my men again, I would have thought you of all people would know that a woman can't afford that."

Brienne started, it had never occurred to her that Asha's confident swagger stopped anywhere short of the bone. "I have never commanded men," she said stiffly.

"Quite the knight errant, aren't you?"

*

Arya had never been on a ship before, but she never got greensick, not even during the worst of the storms. She was quick, and fearless, and had small hands, and as such there's always a job for her on the ship.

The men adopted her as a mascot of a sort and Brienne watched them like a hawk, they called her Arya's guard dog.

When Arya climbed down from checking the sails Qarl ruffled her hair affectionately and shot Brienne a challenging look. Brienne looked back evenly and let her hand brush Oathkeeper's hilt.

*

Brienne trusted Asha as much as she would ever trust any Ironborn, but her ship was crewed by men, and Brienne had learned her lesson well in Renly's camp. 

She slept little and lightly, which is why she was woken by Arya creeping from their cabin. Brienne snapped to wakefulness, strapped on Oathkeeper, and followed her.

She caught up with her in the captain's cabin. Asha was half out of her bunk, frozen, with Needle pointed straight at her throat.

"Arya, what are you doing?"

"Exactly what I was going to ask," said Asha, swallowing audibly.

"I heard some of the sailors talking. She's his sister, Theon's..."

It took Brienne a moment to catch up, Black Wind didn't fly the Greyjoy sigil, and there was no reason for Arya to have heard Asha's family name. 

"...He lived with us, he was Robb's _friend._ "

"Arya, listen to me, Asha isn't responsible for her brother's crimes."

Brienne thought of Qarl ruffling Arya's hair, and she wondered how long the crew would remain friendly if Arya poked their captain full of holes.

"Arya--"

"Shut up! Everyone lies to me. You're just as bad, you swore to my mother that you were going to find Sansa, but you're not even looking!"

"Knight, leave us a moment," said Asha, "the girl and I need to talk."

Brienne's gaze swept the room. Needle was unwavering in Arya's hand, Asha's axe and dagger were in the room but out of immediate reach. "Arya, your lady mother wouldn't want you to do this," said Brienne, backing out of the cabin and hastening to fetch her armour.

*

Brienne found Arya later, huddled in a corner of the hold, staring intently at something in her cupped hands.

"What's that?" she asked, Arya handed over the scrap of-- something. "Is that...?" Brienne dropped it. It was, it was skin. She surreptitiously wiped her hand on her breeches. 

"It's Theon's," Arya explained. "Asha says they're flaying him. He used to train at swords with Robb and Jon, Sansa thought he was handsome. They should cut his head off, he deserves it. But they're _torturing_ him."

Brienne eased herself into a sitting position next to Arya. She remembered the Bloody Mummers and Jaime's hand, she wondered what Arya was remembering.

I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner, she though.

"Your sister--" Brienne began.

"'s okay, I know she's probably dead."

"I don't believe that," said Brienne, thinking of Lady Catelyn, of Jaime, of her vows. "And I won't believe it until I see her bones."

*

After she got Arya back to their cabin and tucked into her bunk Brienne returned to the captain's cabin.

"I'm sorry about your brother."

"Theon was never much of a brother, truth be told he was never much of a man, but my brother he is. I could have forced him to leave Winterfell with me, but I didn't, and now he's being flayed in some green land far from his gods."

"Perhaps the Old Gods will watch over him," suggested Brienne.

Asha's smirk was back. "I think the tree gods are going to have enough problems keeping you and your pup alive. The bastard who is sending me pieces of my brother, you know he's the one who's wed to the girl they're calling Arya Stark? What do you think he'll do when you turn up claiming to have the real thing?"

"Where else should I take her, to Deepwood Motte to hide behind Lady Glover's skirts?"

Asha picked up a dagger and tossed it lazily into the air. "You know, knight, it's a shame you aren't a man, then you could take the girl back to Tarth and claim her as your bastard."

"I would never label one of Lady Catelyn's daughters a bastard!"

Asha continued spinning her dagger and talking as though Brienne hadn't spoken. "If I were a man I'd be sitting the Seastone Chair right now and I could send the entire Iron Fleet after Theon."

"Lady Asha..."

"I need to get some sleep, knight. If you can stop your feral wolf from butchering me in my bunk."

*

The storms got worse, then eased off.

"We've changed direction," Arya told Brienne, who didn't ask how she knew.

"Where are we going?" Brienne asked Asha.

"Gulltown. We won't make the North in this weather."

"Why Gulltown?"

"Because the Vale is the only place no one has yet looked for Sansa Stark." Asha laughed at Brienne's lost look. "I mean to get my brother back, knight. If you go North with just Arya they'll say you're lying, but how long do you think the Northmen will follow Bolton after we go North with both she-wolves. And just because I can't go back to Pyke doesn't mean my men shouldn't."

"What about Arya?"

"Aye, we should bring her too, as she's the only one of us who's ever seen Sansa Stark. I don't intend for us to fall into the same trap as the Boltons, I mean to get the right girl."

"I--" Brienne began.

"You swore an oath to protect her and her sister, I know, you've said, many times. And between my axes and your hell sword we will."


End file.
